Agriculture: Sustainable Development
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department provides for large-scale farms transitioning to agroecological approaches.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Agroecological practices promote sustainable and resilient approaches to farming. This aligns with the goals of the government’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, which will fund improvements to food security, biodiversity, carbon emissions, water quality, air quality and flood resilience. We consider much of the funding under our ELM schemes as supporting agroecological practices.
As announced in October 2024, Defra’s farming budget will be £2.4 billion in 2025/26. ELM remains at the centre of our offer for farmers and will be funded by the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history of £1.8 billion. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →